KARACHI: A PIA Fokker aircraft with 33 persons aboard including a crew of five is missing between Gilgit and Rawalpindi. … Two helicopters and two C-130 transport planes of the Pak­is­tan Air Force failed to locate the aircraft till last evening [Dec 8] when visibility became poor. The search will be resumed this morning. The gro­­­und search, however, is continuing… . Accor­ding to reports … it was raining heavily in the region which made the search more difficult. The aircraft, commanded by Capt. Javedullah, left Gilgit at 11-40 a.m. and was scheduled to reach Rawalpindi at 12-50 p.m. It lost radio contact with Rawalpindi half way on the 250-mile route.

There is one remote possibility that the missing aircraft bearing registration markings AP-AUS might have made an emergency landing at Chilas, about 50 miles south of Gilgit, where only emergency landing facilities are available. Due to breakdown in communications, it could not contact Rawalpindi or Gilgit. The Director-General of Civil Aviation, Mr. M.A. Rafi, told “Dawn” … that his department was fully assisting the authorities in the search… . Of the 33 on board, two were cockpit crew, two cabin crew and one air guard, and the rest were passengers.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2022